5 Smartphone Camera Angles for Better Food Photography

If you love taking pictures of your food with your phone, these angles will help make your dishes stand out.

If you're wondering why your pictures of food don't turn out quite right, then you might be using the wrong camera angles. Smartphone cameras are deceptively tricky to use because the camera isn't in the center of the phone, plus it uses a wide-angle lens.

For a quick way to improve your food photography skills, read through our list of effective smartphone camera angles that are guaranteed to help you take better shots of your food.

1. The Overhead Shot

With an overhead shot, you take the image from above looking directly down at your food. This is one of the most used smartphone food photography angles because it's convenient to compose and stands out well on popular image-sharing apps like Instagram.

One important thing to do is make sure you don't accidentally tilt your camera. Smartphones aren't like DSLR cameras because the camera isn't positioned in the center of the phone. This makes it easy to hold your smartphone off-axis, not realizing that your camera isn't absolutely straight. If you're wondering why your overhead shot doesn't seem right, this could be it.

Take a look at the images above, the one on the left is completely straight whereas the one on the right was held at a slight angle. Because of the wide-angle lens on smartphones, holding the phone at a slight angle can cause your photos to seem distorted.

If you're going to be doing lots of shots like this, consider getting a phone holder. That way you can position your phone at a perfect 90-degree angle to the table while freely moving the food around in the frame. You will avoid having to adjust the camera position and settings each time as a result.

2. Straight-On

The straight-on photo angle means holding your camera vertically and parallel to your subject. You can think about it like bringing your camera face-to-face with your food. You will want to use this angle for dishes that have height or layers that you want to show off—think juicy burgers or beautiful layered cakes.

The biggest problem people make when using this angle is tilting the phone forward without realizing it. Double-check that your phone is completely straight when taking the photo as this will make the image more striking.

Another reason why some photos taken straight-on don't look good is that the background is full of distracting elements. Try using portrait mode on your phone, this is the setting that puts the background slightly out of focus. That way, if you're at a restaurant, you can blur out diners in the background and just focus on the food.

3. The 3/4 Angle

The 3/4 angle is best described as the diner's view of the food. In other words, it's what you would see if you were sitting at a table and looking down at your meal. This is around a 45-degree angle view of the dish.

Use this angle when you need to capture both the top and sides of a dish—it's especially useful for peering into a plate of food or a drink. Experiment with a lower or higher angle than 45 degrees for a slightly different feel. The three images above show you what happens to the photo at different angles from around 30 to 60 degrees.

It can also be great for taking photos of large tablescapes where there is lots of food and objects in the shot. Build on this by including people's hands to give context, adding a bit of storytelling to your photograph.

And remember, lighting is your friend. Read our guide on how to use a ring light for better photographs.

4. The Low-Angle

To achieve a low-angle photo, position your phone closer to the bottom of the dish. Whereas before you want to keep your phone straight, now you can tilt it up towards the subject.

This kind of shot will make your food look bigger and taller, especially when taken close up. Good smartphone cameras have fantastic macro functions which make getting close to your subject easy without risking it being out of focus. Use this to your advantage to exaggerate the height of something you're photographing.

Make sure to avoid zooming in to frame your food, instead, physically move your camera closer to what you're photographing. This will keep the quality of your photo high and create depth in the image which is great for making it stand out.

For some more useful tips, make sure to read our essential do's and don'ts of food photography.

5. The Dutch Angle

The Dutch angle is actually just a tilt, but it's a useful technique to try occasionally. Take any one of the previous angles and simply rotate your camera so that any straight lines in your shot are positioned diagonally.

You can use these diagonal lines to point towards your food, leading a viewer to look at the most delicious part of your photo. It also makes your photo more dynamic as opposed to calm and still, and that added sense of movement makes it more interesting to look at.

This angle is easy to combine with shots where hard lines like the edge of a table are easy to see. Instead of squaring the table with the frame of the photo, rotate your camera to position the lines diagonally for a more interesting composition.

The Right Angle Will Make Your Dish Stand Out

Whether it's for sharing on Instagram or adding to your website, mastering these angles with your smartphone will help your photos standout. But don't just stick to what's tried and true, once you've got the hang of it, bend the rules to see what else you can come up with. What are you waiting for? Start taking deliciously good food pics.